The list of officials includes former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former National Security Advisor John Bolton.
President Donald Trump revoked the security clearances of over 50 national security officials who had signed a 2020 letter suggesting that Hunter Biden’s laptop bore “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”
The letter, signed by 51 former national security officials, claimed that while the laptop showed no direct evidence of Russian involvement, it resembled a “Russian information operation.” This letter followed a New York Post report revealing emails that allegedly showed Hunter Biden facilitating a meeting between his father, Joe Biden, and a top executive from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma months before Joe Biden pressured Ukrainian officials to remove a prosecutor investigating the company.
Among the officials whose clearances were revoked were former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper Jr., former CIA Directors Michael Hayden and John Brennan, former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, and former National Security Advisor John Bolton.
Fox News Digital previously reported that federal investigators from the Department of Justice had determined Hunter Biden’s laptop was not manipulated and contained “reliable evidence.”
Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, had previously suggested stripping these officials of their security clearances.
Trump’s order to revoke the clearances was part of a series of over 200 executive orders signed on Inauguration Day, which included measures like rejoining the fight against climate change, reversing nearly 80 executive orders from the Biden administration, enacting a regulatory and hiring freeze for the federal government, preventing “government censorship” of free speech, and directing agencies to address the ongoing cost of living crisis.
